The Brain's Time Warp

This morning I was reading an article on a fitness website about morning routines that fit women should be doing regularly.  One of them was take a hike.  The article said that on a weekend a walk in nature to start the day can be uplifting and invigorating.

I thought this was a good idea.  I started to consider where I could best find nature close to home.  I imagined myself walking out the door onto Meadow Street.  It's a pretty, tree-lined street, but it's near the middle of town.  I might need to go a bit farther to see some real nature.  It would only be a 5 minute drive to the Marsh Lands Conservancy though?  What about this coming weekend?

I took a few seconds to review the plan in my head.  Then something occurred to me.

I don't live on Meadow Street anymore and I haven't lived there in almost 20 years.

Isn't it strange how no matter how old I am, and how long I have lived as an adult with my husband in my current home, I still use my childhood home as a frame of reference?  Does it make sense?  I lived there almost 20 years.  I have lived in my current residence for 15 years.  The years I spent in my old home were formative, and the place and the neighborhood are well imprinted on my memory.  I still feel it odd that I go there in my mind as if I still live there.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, convinced I'm in my childhood bedroom.  It doesn't matter if I had been dreaming of my childhood or not.  I just believe I'm there.

It makes me wonder where I will think I am when I'm elderly and losing my mind.  (Dementia runs in my family, so I am not assured in any way I will escape it.)  Will my mind travel back to Meadow Street, or will it travel to the Regatta Condo?  Maybe it will be convinced I'm in wherever I will live after the Regatta Condo (if I ever do live anyplace else).

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